Gay cinema

“Heated Rivalry”

“Heated Rivalry” went viral because of its sex scenes, and although the scandalized reactions might be a bit hyperbolic, they mostly live up to the hype: the sweaty, noisy, and unbearably intimate moments where the show’s two main characters get undressed and get on top of each other are some of the hottest in recent TV memory.

Pretty much every character in this wild tale is a woman, and their relationships — adversarial, familial, and sexual — supply the soapiest and most sincere moments of a show that manages to mock and embody the elements of its melodrama.

Honorable Mention: François Arnaud, who is currently a thirst trap on TV’s “Heated Rivalry,” displayed his marvelous ass(ets) in the scrappy film, “Fucktoys” as The Mechanic, who has a very intimate and intense encounter with AP writer/director/star Annapurna Sriram.

SEXIEST FILMS: Two very different Brazilian films — both of which played only at NewFest — were incredibly erotic and naughty.

Winner Onya Nurve and runner-up Jewels Sparkles embodied that sweet spot, balancing exceptional craft, comedic chaos, and genuine warmth while also making the most of the unscripted brand as a career launchpad and artistic playground. —AF

“The Long Walk”

“The Long Walk” earned its place among the year’s most essential LGBTQ releases not through political spectacle, but by depicting queer intimacy with brilliance under pressure.

Those same groups were simultaneously championed on many of the world’s most powerful pop culture stages. The documentary “Come See in the Good Light” remembered poet Andrea Gibson and gave their wife, Megan Falley, a platform to reflect on the late artist’s life and the fleeting power of true love.

We live in a time restrained by hesitation but spurred on by the recent memory of limitless possibility.

In 2025, LGBTQ Americans faced yet another surge of fierce attacks targeting their human rights and legal protections. Queer stories continued to thrive where risk and imagination are valued, from indie films that brilliantly explored queerness as both an identity and lived culture, to TV series that embedded LGBTQ characters into smart ensemble storytelling without apology.

In a setting defined by cruelty, screenwriter JT Mollner understood that tenderness, especially between boys intended as enemies, can still seem radical on the big screen. The documentary arrived last winter amid renewed national attacks on LGBTQ rights and countered the vitriol of that moment with a deeply empathetic portrait of genderqueer poet Andrea Gibson.

—Alison Foreman

With editorial contributions from Ryan Lattanzio. The director plays Dennis, an awkward man who meets the grieving Roman (Dylan O’Brien, in an extraordinary performance) at a support group for people mourning their twins and falls into a co-dependent friendship with him. In a breakout performance Magnus Juhl Andersen plays Copenhagen-living, out gay man Johan who, as any out gay man does, engages in casual anonymous sex at the local sauna, where he also works as a receptionist.